Coke guide operated control system for pusher ram



M. J. MACEY Feb. 2, 1960 COKE GUIDE OPERATED CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PUSHER RAM 1 V. a maw M El M M? J w a 2 4 m M Y B My Q U 8 m 2 P! Q n W N n u l M n U Q m ATTOR COKE GUIDE OPERATED CONTROL SYSTEM- FOR PUSHER RAM Michael J. Macey, Elizabeth, Pa., assignor to United I States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application February 25, 1958, Serial No. 717,367

4 Claims. (Cl. 214-23) This invention relates to by-product coke ovens and, in particular, to a control system for protecting coke guides and associated mechanism against damage as the result of a charge of coke sticking or hanging in a guide. For this purpose it contemplates an improved apparatus that interrupts the movement of the ram pushing a charge of coke through the guide under conditions such that its continued operation would result in tilting movement of the guide and possible damage thereto or to associated apparatus.

' Coke guides are commonly employed to direct the discharge movement of coke from by-product oven coking compartments into a quenching car and are mounted on carriages for movement over railway tracks extending along the coke side of a battery of ovens to operative guiding positions with respect to the diiferent coking compartments. The sides of such guides usually have a slatted construction and are spaced apart a distance corresponding to the width of a coking compartment. In operation they are arranged opposite one end of a coking compartment after removal of the door therefrom and in a position such that they form an extension of the sides of the coking compartment and with their slats acting as guides for the coke being transferred therefrom to a quenching car. The transfer of coke in this manner is effected by a ram which is pushed through the coking compartment by a drive located on the other side, the pusher side, of the battery.

i When movement of a charge of coke through a guide is restrained by sticking or hanging therein, continued operation of the pusher ram can and frequently does result in damage either to the coke guide or to other parts of the coking apparatus. In such case the force of the ram acting against the coke may tilt the guide and its carriage about the railway tracks on which it is supported and there have been instances in which guides have been pushed off the benches on which their supporting tracks are mounted. To avoid a condition of this character, operators have the responsibility of stopping the pusher ram before damage is done but this operation at present is dependent on the personal observation and manual reaction of operators to faulty guide operating conditions. In this respect,-it is difficult to observe the exact moment when a charge begins to stick in a guide because of theflame, steam and smoke encountered during a coke discharging operation. In addition, it is the practice of operators to go to positions on the door machine attached to the coke guide where they are protected against heat, ash and smoke, and are thus frequently unable to disconnect the air supply, which controls the forward motion of the pusher ram, as promptly as may be required to prevent damage.

Onefiof the principal objects of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus for stoppinga pusher ram when a charge of coke sticks in a guide, which is not dependent on the observation and reaction of an operator for its operation. A further and related object involves the arrangement of an apparatus of this character for operation in response to movement of the coke guide as the result of a charge of coke sticking or otherwise not properly moving therethrough. Another object is to provide an apparatus according to either of the preceding objects which utilizes the conventional pneumatic interlock for the coke guide and pusher machines for effecting an interruption of a ram pushing operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

In the drawings there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention. In this showing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary and diagrammatic plan view of a by-product coke oven battery, which shows the conventional arrangement of pusher and coke guide machines along opposite sides thereof and furnishes a schematic illustration of the pusher ram control system of this invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged elevation of the coke guide and door machine looking in the direction of the line lIII of Figure 1, which shows the relative arrangement of the control apparatus of this invention thereon; and

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic showing of the control system of this invention and of the operating lever for effecting its actuation in response to tilting movement of a coke guide.

Figure 1 of the drawings shows a conventional coke oven battery 1 in which the different coking compartments 2 are arranged respectively along center lines between buckstays 3 at opposite sides of the ovens. After removal of the closure doors from opposite ends of a compartment 2, a pusher ram 4 is operated to eject a charge of coke therefrom by movement from right to left as viewed in Figure l. A pusher ram drive for this purpose comprises a gear reducing unit 5 and an electric motor 6 which form part of the usual pusher machine'7 that is supported for movement along one side, the

pusher side, of the battery 1. At the other side, the coke side, of the battery 1, the usual door and coke guide machines 8 and 9 are supported by separate carriages or' chassis for rolling movement over railway tracks 10 on the coke side bench 11. The machine 9 supports a coke guide 12 that operates to direct the movement of a charge of coke being discharged from a coking compartment into a quenching car 13 drawn by a locomotive 14.

In order to discharge coke from the compartments 2 without damage to the battery 1, it is essential that the machines 7, 8 and 9 be first moved to positions in which the ram 4 and guide 12 are accurately aligned with the compartment 2 to be emptied. For this purpose a pneumatic interlock is provided to make operation of the ram 4 by its drive motor 6 dependent upon these mafactor 15 in the energizing circuit 16 for the drive motor 6. The contactor 15 has a bias (not shown) for move ment to open position and a pneumatic relay 17 for actuating it to closed position. When the relay 17 is pressur ized by the admission of air under pressure thereto from a conduit 18, it operates to close the contactor 15 so that the circuit 16 may be energized to operate the'motor 6,

the usual and conventional motor controls being'provided in the circuit 16 for this purpose. I Venting of the conduit 18 to the atmosphere in a manner to be described results'in movement of'the' contactor 15 to open; position.

Air is supplied to the conduit 18 from'a compressor 19 mounted on the door machine 8. For this purpose the conduit 18 and compressor 19 are connected by an air supply circuit 20 that includes coupling members 21 and 22 in the form of short sections of flexible tubing, and

lect d one f p ur nd esnw rran ed.

similarly has a connection 27 i on the carn'age8 to. the.

line. 20. By reason of the short length of the flexible coupling rnembers 21 and 22; they are connectable with the couplingrnembers 24 at the ends of a selected single conduit 23 only when the carriages 7 and 8 occupy. posi-. tions in which the ram4 and guide 12 are aligned with the; same compartment 2. In this manner the drive for the ram 4.can be operated only when it is in. a position alignedwith the coke guide 12. Thepneumatic interlock.

thusfar described is conventional and, forms no part perse of this invention. 7

The control system oi this invention, as indicated above, operates to interrupt the coke pushing movement of the ram 4 when a charge of coke sticks orhang s, in a coke guide 12, To thisend, it operates to disconnect the relay 17 from the air supply conduit 20 and to. ventit to the atmosphere so that the contactor l5ropens'g the circuit 16 and stops operation of the motor 6, This. is. accomplished by a valve 29 which is arranged; for; opera-. tion by a lever 30. The lever30, asbest shown'in Figure 3, has a pivot connection 31 at a point intermediate.

its ends to a support 32 which is secured to-the door chassis 8, The outer,end 33- of the lever entends over an operating part 34 which is'secured tothe coke chassis 9 by a supporting bracket 35. When a charge of coke sticks inthe guide 12 and the force of the rarn4 acting on the coke imparts a tilting movement to. the guide 12 and its chassis. 9 aboutthe outer one of its traekway rails 10, the bracket 35 and the operating, part 34 move upwardly into engagement with the end 33 of the-lever 30. This imparts a counterclockwise movement to the lever 30 that moves its inner end 36 downwardly into operating engagement with a valve operating lever 37.v

The valve 29 has been shown diagrammatically inlFi ga e Q t e d i s.. c h r e umbe -f: 92 1- n iercially available forms that are suitable for the; pure poses of this invention. As shown in Figure 3,, it islocated in a by -pass conduit 39 about a normally closed emergency valve 40' in the conduit 20 which forces the air delivered from the compressor19 to flow through the conduit 3.9. It comprises a valve casing 41 with transversely aligned ports 42 and 43- connected in the conduit 39 and an air vent 44, and a valve body; 45 mounted for vertical movement inthe casing 41-, A spring 46 biasesthebody 45 to a lower and its normal operatingpositionin. thecasing 41 and, in this position, a passage 47 in the body 45 connects the valveports 42- d. and p evides q nres r c e fl a f pni he om ess 1 t hei sla 1 hen he-bo L moved. p ly a ains heach h Qf s ia iha-stz gi 6 t ope a 9 nt rru t he fla Qf air thre s e por n c nne the po 3. 91 tsht hicus -1 vert lly end h eht ns P sa e 8 e b y '45- n -t latt Position. h valve 9 e a e e t h relay 17 to. theatmosphere so that it operates to interrupthe-wke P s in -J when of the ram. t

The; valve opera 'ng lever 37, referred to above, hag a pi o l: u por 50 t -5 weig i ut:

wardly 'fromthe valvecasing 4L' The inner end oii the lever 37 has a pivotal connection 52 to the upper end of" a rod-53. secured'to and" projecting upwardly; from he val ehq y. 4 h n e lever .30 piv in a 414: terclockwise direction in response to tilting of a coke guide as described above, the lever 37 is pivoted in a clockwise direction to move the valve body 45 upwardly against the action of its biasing spring 46. This operation of the valve 29 acts to vent the relay 17 to the atmosphere and to stop therarn-drive motor 6. Since the operation of the. valve-2 9 and the=by-pass conduit 39 in which his locatedwill' be apparent from the above, it will be sufiicient to state that in normal operation it does not interfere with thepneum'atic interlock provided by the relay 17an'd the air supply connections designated consecutively by the. numerals-18427. Attention is particularly directed to the fact that it relieves the operator ofthe responsibility of noting that a charge of coke is sticking or hanging in a coke guide and i that it operates promptly to stop a pusher ram in response toabnormal tilting movement of the coke guide. In-this mannendamage to the. coke guide and associated-parts ofthe coking apparatus is eliectively prevented.

While one embodiment of my invention has :been shown and-described. it will be. apparent that other adaptations andrnodifications may be made without departing from} the qscope of the: followingclaims.

c ai 1;, .lua. battery of, by-product coke ovens. equipped. with a pusher and a drive for selectively moving it through.-

said, ovens to discharge coke therefrom, the combination control means to stop. said pusher drive.

, 2, I n-a battery of by-product coke ovens equippedv with a pusher and a drive for selectively moving it through said-ovens to discharge-coke therefrom, the combination with a door machine and a coke guide respectivelymounted. on separate truck chassis for movementover a. trackway along the coke side ofsaid ovens, of a con:

troll means for controlling the operation of: said pusher; drive, andmeans responsive to tilting movement ofsaid guide relative to said door machine for operating said control means to stop said pusher drive;

3. A coke oven apparatus astdefined in ut ri-z d y: d i n responsive m an -wmp s ns an operatingpart; supported for tilting movemenewithsaid coke guide, a lever for operating said-control means, and tmeans mounting said lever on said door machine chassis and in-the path of tilting movement of --rsaid operatingpart for actuation thereby.

4. In a battery of .by-product. coke ovens; equipped wi-th}a;pusher and a drive for selectively movinggit through said; ovens todischarge coke therefrom, the: combination with-a door machine and a coke guiderespectively mounted on separate truck chassis for movementover atrackway along the coke side. of said ovens, of a fluid pressureoperated relay controlling the operation of said pusher drive, a; valve meanseffective upon aotuation for foperatingasaid relay to stop said-pusherdrive, a lever for actuatingsaid va'lve'means, a member for operatingsaid.

lever supported, for tilting movementwithsaid. coke guide, and meansmounting said lever on said door machine chassis and in the path of movement of said mem-. her for actuation thereby.

' References-Cited in the file of this. patent I UNITED} STATES PATENTS" 74 83.90 M h bu all D 2211903 2,589,266 Lnvely Mar. 18, 1952 claim 2 char-- 

